Facebook Promises ‘New Standard for Transparency in Online Political Ads’

Facebook is turning over to Congress copies of political ads that appear to have been placed on the platform by accounts linked to Russia, company founder Mark Zuckerberg said on Facebook Live Thursday afternoon, and plans new steps to protect election integrity.

Facebook said earlier this month that accounts likely tied to Russia had bought ads to boost their reach on the platform before last year’s presidential election. The company said then that it had traced ads back to a ring of of 470 accounts with suspected links to Russia. Those accounts spent about $100,000 over a two-year period to increase the reach of 3,000 posts.

“For awhile, we had found no evidence of fake accounts linked to Russia running ads,” Zuckerberg said Thursday. “When we recently uncovered this activity, we provided that information to the special council. We also briefed Congress.”